A carefully reasoned book about a very important subject. This book addresses the important theological and philosophical issues of what it means to bA carefully reasoned book about a very important subject. This book addresses the important theological and philosophical issues of what it means to be a human being before it addresses the ethical issues presented by modern medical science. So its ethical arguments are founded on carefully articulated theological and philosophical premises. I fear many people simply approach the medical ethics addressed merely on pragmatic or emotional grounds, without thinking about the profound philosophical and theological implications of their positions. I would recommend this book for any person in a position of spiritual leadership or influence in the decisions which ordinary people face when confronted by the medical and personal issues related to medicine and life, from conception to death. This is not an easy read. It takes some determined reading unless one is perhaps already familiar with the philosophical, theological, and medical issues addressed. But it is well worth the effort....more

Very worthwhile for the non-expert. Very informative. Makes a serious attempt to be fair and balanced. Graves is a Christian and makes no apology forVery worthwhile for the non-expert. Very informative. Makes a serious attempt to be fair and balanced. Graves is a Christian and makes no apology for approaching both the bible and archaeology from that framework. However, he is not a triumphalist, and is quick to explain opposing views on many issues and to acknowledge where archaeology can only go so far in establishing the credibility of the biblical text. The book is packed with a lot of information, and deals with a number of recent finds and developments. Lots of charts, maps, and pics. I'll be using this book as a resource in future studies, I'm sure....more

Assigned to read this book over a period of a year for discussion in a monthly leadership meeting. (One chapter each month). Tripp has a ton of good iAssigned to read this book over a period of a year for discussion in a monthly leadership meeting. (One chapter each month). Tripp has a ton of good insights which provoked a lot of really meaningful discussion w/others in our meeting. I do find Tripp's tendency to organize and systematize everything (three steps for this, four points for that) too annoying. While he had many points I found helpful in thinking about myself and ways I can grow, as well as insights into helping others to grow, he left me feeling, at times, that I could never be successful since I don't think and function in the systematized, step by step, manner he promotes. ...more

A very informative read. Keathley and Rooker are evangelicals writing to evangelicals. Both are theologians. As the title indicates, they address 40 qA very informative read. Keathley and Rooker are evangelicals writing to evangelicals. Both are theologians. As the title indicates, they address 40 questions pertaining to creation and evolution. Each question gets about 9 or 10 pages in which the authors provide an overview of the various views on the question, chiefly those views held by men and women who make a credible confession as Christians. They then offer a few concluding remarks on the question before proceeding to the next one. Each chapter also comes with a handful of review questions at the end. They note that among Christians there are primarily four approaches, 1) Young earth creationists, 2) Old earth creationists, 3) Evolutionary theists, and 4) Intelligent Design proponents. It's a bit of a puzzle to me why they include the latter as a class by itself, since they acknowledge that ID includes adherents of the three other groups.

The authors do a good job of trying to be evenhanded, and dealing with the various positions with respect and fairness, even when they appear to disagree with a view being discussed (which is more obvious at some points than at others). One of the authors (Keathley) claims to "lean" toward the old earth position, while the other (Rooker) "leans" towards the young earth position. It is curious, however, that though one of the authors favors the young earth position, the evidence marshaled and discussed in the book much more strongly favors the old earth position. Frustratingly, the authors do not provide an overall summary at the end, or explain why they "lean" to the position they do.

Though the authors are theologians, they obviously are well informed as to the status of modern science in a wide range of areas. They have clearly done their homework. The 40 questions they address are cataloged into six groupings: 1) Doctrine of Creation, 2) Creation and Genesis 1 and 2, 3) Days of creation, 4) Age of the earth, 5) The Fall and the flood, and 6) Evolution and Intelligent Design. They write in an understandable and accessible manner. Each chapter of the 40 is adequate without being either over-simplified or trite.

This book will serve well as a reference tool for someone wanting a handy, informative, balanced explanation of the primary questions at issue for Christians confronting the challenge of how their faith interfaces with modern science. Most readers probably won't agree with everything, especially those with a "my way or the highway" frame of mind. But even if the authors don't change the reader's mind on some issue, at least they've taught us how to dialogue respectfully and lovingly with those who hold views different from our own and yet who obviously want to love God and be faithful to His revelation....more

Fun read. But Grisham depresses me with his relentlessly dark picture of humanity. Wonder if he thinks there are any good, sincere people in the worldFun read. But Grisham depresses me with his relentlessly dark picture of humanity. Wonder if he thinks there are any good, sincere people in the world. Still, good mystery, and until near the end he had me in the dark....more

Good balanced overview of 14 significant points in Christian history. By covering not only the specific events themselves, but viewing them primarilyGood balanced overview of 14 significant points in Christian history. By covering not only the specific events themselves, but viewing them primarily as epitomizing the transforming nature of the eras in which they occurred, Noll provides a broad perspective of the wide scope of development throughout the two-thousand year history of Christianity. ...more

I'll give this book 4 stars, though before I read the last chapter I would have likely given it 3. (I seldom give 5 stars.) This book is an importantI'll give this book 4 stars, though before I read the last chapter I would have likely given it 3. (I seldom give 5 stars.) This book is an important piece of work, as some leading scholars have indicated. It is nothing if not thorough. In fact, it is thorough to the point at times of being tediously laborious. But of course, he has a very important point to make which is not popular with many contemporary New Testament scholars, and which therefore calls for thorough argument: that the New Testament Gospels and Acts consist of largely eyewitness testimony recorded within the living memories of the eyewitnesses. The evidence he amasses is quite substantial, from empirical data compiled from the use of names in the Gospels/Acts, to much more subtle indications of eyewitness testimony.

Along the way he utterly demolishes the now largely discredited use of form criticism in N. T. scholarship. But, as he points out, though form criticism is now mostly recognized as an woefully inadequate interpretive or historical tool when applied to N. T. studies, nevertheless, some of its underlying presuppositions remain unquestioned in much current scholarship—most notably the mistaken idea that the Gospels consist of material not put in writing until long after the original eyewitness were long gone from the scene. As Bauckham demonstrates forcefully, that presupposition needs to be set aside.

I withhold opinion on some of Bauckham's points, and I would tend to disagree with him on others. But, overall, I think he's done a worthy job of making his case. He's won approving words from the likes of N. T. Wright, Martin Hengel, J.D.G Dunn (who comes under Bauckham's criticism at several points in the book), and Craig Keener (who I know differs or questions Bauckham on at least two points).

I'm not convinced of Baukham's argument that John, the son of Zebedee is distinct from John the "Beloved Disciple," who Bauckham holds to be the author of the five Johannine books (the Gospel, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Revelation). Though I think it is a solid argument and cannot be lightly dismissed, but other leading scholars differ with him on this. I was a bit puzzled by Bauckham's including such a lengthy defense of his position on this question in this work, since either way, as he makes clear, both names (whether of the same or different individuals) are closely associated eyewitness to the ministry, passion, and resurrection of Jesus. In other words, it didn't seem to me his very lengthy (nearly 100 pgs.) exposition on the matter was necessary for the purpose of his book.

The final chapter of his book I found to be the most stimulating and rewarding to me personally, though I'm sure it wouldn't have been so if I had not labored through the rest of his arguments. That chapter tackles a series of questions related to eyewitness testimony: what it is and can it be trusted?; the relationship of testimony to history and historiography; the skepticism and claimed "autonomy" of much modern N. T. scholarship; the crucial importance of testimony when addressing events "at the limits of" our experience—what Bauckham calls (borrowing a phrase from Paul Ricouer) the "uniquely unique" historical event (on this point he draws some important lessons from two kinds of eyewitness testimony of the Holocaust); testimony as an historical and theological category; the interrelationship of testimony and interpretation by the eyewitness testifier; and the absolute necessity of testimony to discovering and understanding what really happened in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and what it really means. I super enjoyed this last chapter.

Overall, a worthwhile read, if a bit challenging at times, and even if I can't buy him at every point. I'll give it 4 stars....more

Plenty of people have reviewed this one, both pro and con, rational and otherwise, so I'll only say that I have found it very helpful in assessing thePlenty of people have reviewed this one, both pro and con, rational and otherwise, so I'll only say that I have found it very helpful in assessing the array of criticisms and and questions that come up in the discussion of intelligent design. ...more

The title was a bit misleading to me. I was hoping/expecting more along the lines of an examination of how the early Christian thinkers interacted witThe title was a bit misleading to me. I was hoping/expecting more along the lines of an examination of how the early Christian thinkers interacted with Greek thought and philosophy. There was some of that, but it was minimal. Chiefly Reynolds provides a survey of Greek thought from the era of pre-Socratic thought through Aristotle, and up to the time of Paul's sermon on the Areopogas in the first century. Primarily it seems Reynolds chief aim was to provide the Greco-Roman backdrop into which Christianity was born and with which Christianity needed to interface, and to show how Christianity utilized some of the concepts of Hellenistic philosophy while rejecting others. In those respects the book is useful and informative, though necessarily sketchy, as Reynolds acknowledges. For someone minimally acquainted with the issues, this book would be a good primer. ...more